June 9, 2011

The FDA warns that patients who take the 80 mg dose of the popular cholesterol medication, Zocor, are at greater risk for muscle and kidney damage. The FDA has added warnings to alert doctors about prescribing Zocor, and the generic simvastatin in high doses, except for patients who’ve used it for a year or more without side effects. More than 2.1 million patients were prescribed the drug last year. Drug manufacturer Merck says about 12% of patients take the 80 mg dose and warns patients not to stop taking it without physician approval. Other statins such as Lipitor and Crestor also lower cholesterol, but with a lower risk for muscle injury, says Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, UCLA who adds that patients should discuss with their physician which statin is best for them.

Nicotine may rev up brains cells that typically signal to people to quit eating when they're full, say Yale University researchers. The new science involving mice may finally explain why smokers who quit tend to put on weight. MSNBC reports that Yale scientist Yann Mineur stumbled onto the link when studying nicotine-related substances like cytisine. Researchers believe that both nicotine and cytisine activate a different receptor than the one associated with addiction. The receptor activated by the drugs is found on a set of neurons in the hypothalamus, a part of the brain which regulates appetite. Researchers say that smokers concerned about weight gain should try nicotine-based smoking-cessation treatments.

A flu vaccine made from the nucleus of the virus which rarely mutates plus two adjuvants was most effective in mice. This vaccine plus the adjuvants alum and monophosphoryl lipid A induces and activates CD8 T cells which kill virally-infected cells. Vaccinated mice had fewer viral particles in their lungs 96 hours post-infection compared to unvaccinated mice and those who got the vaccine with only one adjuvant. Normally one adjuvant is used to stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies which bind to and neutralize the viral proteins neuraminidase and hemagglutinin which mutate frequently. As a result, a new vaccine is developed each year based on what strain researchers think will predominate but the one developed by this team could work as a universal flu vaccine.